Feeding sows milk biofortified with n-6 and n-3 modulates immune status of sows and drives positive transgenerational effects

The risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, inflammation, obesity, and autoimmune disease is linked to the quality of dietary fats, with lower intake of saturated and higher intake of n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) considered beneficial to health. This study investigated the effect of supplementing sows’ diets with cow’s milk biofortified with n-6 or n-3 PUFA, at varying n-6/n-3 ratios (8.26, 7.92, and 2.72) during their growing phase and throughout gestation and lactation on their reproductive performance and immune-inflammatory status. Specifically, we analyzed circulating cholesterol and fatty acid profiles of serum, colostrum and milk, sow body weight, and neonate colostrum intake, Apgar scores, muscle composition, and embryo viability. Analysis of circulating immunoglobulins (Ig), interleukins, and eicosanoids and complement system hemolytic activity were used to evaluate inflammatory and immune responses of sows and piglets. Expression of lipolysis and lipogenic genes in the liver were investigated in sows and piglets, with additional investigation of hypothalamus genes regulating appetite in sows. Feeding sows milk biofortified with n-6 and n-3 PUFA altered serum fatty acid profiles, reduced triglycerides (TG), increased embryo total number, increased early gestation backfat, and reduced colostrum IgG. Piglets of biofortified sow had higher circulating IgA, IgM and TNF-α, and lower IL-10. Sows fed n-3 biofortified milk had higher very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) and TNF-α in circulation. Offspring from sows fed n-6 versus n-3 biofortified milk had lower IL-10 and expression levels of SREBP-1. N-3 versus n-6 also lowered arachidonic acid (ARA) levels in sow’s milk and piglet viability 1. Findings offer insights into the potential health benefits of dietary supplementation with biofortified milk in swine, which serve as good model of diet-nutrition studies of humans, and therefore can potentially be considered in dietary recommendations both human and animal populations.

3.593 ± 0.20 a,A 2.237 ± 0.18 a,B 0.903 ± 0.08 b,C 5.514 ± 0.17 a,A n-3 3.922 ± 0.20 a,B 2.279 ± 0.18 a,B 1.782 ± 0.08 a,C 8.105 ± 0.16 a,A Average on the same line followed by the same capital letter, do not differ.Averages in the same column followed by the same lowercase letter, do not differ.4.425 ± 0.09 a,B 6.162 ± 0.08 a,A n-3 3.754 ± 0.09 a,B 6.358 ± 0.10 a,A 3.216 ± 0.09 b,B 5.329 ± 0.08 b,A Average on the same line followed by the same capital letter, do not differ.Averages in the same column followed by the same lowercase letter, do not differ.Average on the same line followed by the same capital letter, do not differ.Averages in the same column followed by the same lowercase letter, do not differ.

CON
15.17 ± 0.66 b,A 15.29 ± 0.45 a,A n-6 15.76 ± 0.66 b,B 16.41 ± 0.44 a,A n-3 17.29 ± 0.56 a,A 15.44 ± 0.46 a,B Average on the same line followed by the same capital letter, do not differ.Averages in the same column followed by the same lowercase letter, do not differ.2014) 24 h after the first-born piglet.The sum of the individual colostrum intake of each piglet within the litter was used to calculate colostrum production of the sow.
b Sows fed with a Control milk (CON), supplemented with cow's milk biofortified with n-6 or n-3.b Gilts fed with a Control milk (CON), supplemented with cow's milk biofortified with n-6 or n-3.b Sows fed with a Control milk (CON), supplemented with cow's milk biofortified with n-6 or n-3.Table 13.Hemolytic activity of the alternative pathway of the complement system for swine females and piglets

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a D40G: 40 days of gestation; D107G: 107 days of gestation; D1L: first day of lactation; D21L: 21 days of lactation.b SEM, standard error of the mean.
a D40G: 40 days of gestation; D107G: 107 days of gestation; D1L: first day of lactation; D21L: 21 days of lactation.b SEM, standard error of the mean.
a D40G: 40 days of gestation; D107G: 107 days of gestation; D1L: first day of lactation; D21L: 21 days of lactation.b SEM, standard error of the mean.Table 6.Backfat thickness average (mm) from 40 to 107 days of gestation of gilts Day Treatment D40G a (± SEM b ) D107G a (± SEM b ) a D40G: day 40 of gestation; D107G: day 107 of gestation.bSEM, standard error of the mean.
a D40G: 40 days of gestation; D75G: 75 days of gestation; D107G: 107 days of gestation; D1L: first day of lactation; D21L: 21 days of lactation.b SEM, standard error of the mean.
a D40G: 40 days of gestation; D75G: 75 days of gestation; D107G: 107 days of gestation; D1L: first day of lactation; D21L: 21 days of lactation.b SEM, standard error of the mean.Table 16.Concentration of IgG (mg.mL -1 ) at 1 and 14 days of lactation in plasma of piglets Day Treatment D1L a (± SEM b ) D14L a (± SEM b ) CON 27.375 ± 17.831 a,B 160.69 ± 18.813 b,A n-6 25.441 ± 17.831 a,B 262.69 ± 18.813 a,A n-3 21.867 ± 17.831 a,B 113.65 ± 17.831 c,A Average on the same line followed by the same capital letter, do not differ.Averages in the same column followed by the same lowercase letter, do not differ.aD1L: 1 day of lactation; D14L: 14 days of lactation.b SEM, standard error of the mean.Table 17.Concentration of IgM (mg.mL -1 ) at 1 and 14 days of lactation in plasma of piglets Day Treatment D1L a (± SEM b ) D14L a (± SEM b ) CON 2.988 ± 0.940 a,B 6.358 ± 0.992 b,A n-6 0.812 ± 0.940 b,B 10.295 ± 0.992 a,A n-3 0.989 ± 0.940 b,B 7.395 ± 0.992 ab,A

Table 2 .
Gene names and primer sequences of ARH

Table 3 .
Concentration of elaidic acid (µg/ mL) at 40 and 107 days of gestation and at 1 and 21 days of lactation of sows

Table 4 .
Concentration of γ-linolenic acid (µg/mL) at 40 and 107 days of gestation and at 1 and 21 days of lactation of sows

Table 7 .
Triglyceride's concentration (mg.dL -1 ) at 40 and 107 days of gestation and at 1 and 21 days of lactation of sows Average on the same line followed by the same capital letter, do not differ.Averages in the same column followed by the same lowercase letter, do not differ.

Table 8 .
Effects of supplementing biofortified milk in estimated colostrum production of sows and intake of their piglets in the first 24 hours

Item a Treatment b P-value d CON (± SEM c ) n-6 (± SEM c ) n-3 ± (SEM c ) Treatment C1 C2
Colostrum intake of piglets alive was estimated by the model to predict of Theil et al. ( a

Table 9 .
Histological characteristics of the Longissimus dorsi muscle from gilts at 28 days of gestationbatch B

Table 10 .
Histological characteristics of the Longissimus dorsi muscle from 14 day-old pigletsbatch A Per-area: percentage of the area filled by the object delimited within the total image, as a way of quantifying the relative area. a

Table 11 .
Liver expression levels of genes involved in lipid metabolism in gilts from control, n-6 and n-3 groupsbatch B Gilts fed with a Control milk (CON), supplemented with cow's milk biofortified with n-6 or n-3. a

Table 14 .
Concentration of IgM (mg.mL -1 ) at 40, 75 and 107 days of gestation and at 1 and 21 days of lactation of sows

(± SEM b ) D75G a (± SEM b ) D107G a (± SEM b ) D1L a (± SEM b ) D21L a (± SEM b )
Average on the same line followed by the same capital letter, do not differ.Averages in the same column followed by the same lowercase letter, do not differ.

Table 15 .
Concentration of TNF-α (pg.mL -1 ) at 40, 75 and 107 days of gestation and at 1 and 21 days of lactation of sows AB Average on the same line followed by the same capital letter, do not differ.Averages in the same column followed by the same lowercase letter, do not differ.